Scent

The Power of Scent

A favorable scent goes a long way. Want to boost your mood or stir up old memories? Try using your nose. And, most important, scent can even drive one to romantic distraction. Just think about your partner's pajamas. Indeed, the nose can even suss out the complex, like sexual compatibility.

Can You Smell, Feel or Taste This GIF?

By Maureen Seaberg on December 05, 2017 in Sensorium

Movement triggers bonus sensations in other sensory modalities in synesthetes

Aromatherapy Alleviates Anxiety Via Your Vagus Nerve

By Christopher Bergland on November 09, 2017 in The Athlete's Way

There is growing empirical evidence that aromatherapy has a profound ability to relieve anxiety by calming your nervous system.

Dogs Smell Human Fear and Mirror Our Mood When They Do

By Marc Bekoff Ph.D. on November 07, 2017 in Animal Emotions

A recent study shows what many have "known" about the power of a dog's nose and its ability to detect what we're feeling. New data show dogs smell human fear and also get scared.

Dogs Smell Your Emotional State and It Affects Their Mood

By Stanley Coren PhD., DSc, FRSC on October 25, 2017 in Canine Corner

It is widely believed that dogs can recognize the scent of human fear and they react hostility to it. New data tests this idea.

Why Do Dogs Have Cold, Wet Noses?

By Stanley Coren PhD., DSc, FRSC on October 17, 2017 in Canine Corner

A dog's wet nose can improve his scenting ability but it also does more than that.

Stop and Smell the Roses

By Beverly D. Flaxington on October 13, 2017 in Understand Other People

5 steps to stop letting the rush rule win and start turning your attention to what’s along the way.

Unconscious Cues That Define Sexual Attractiveness

By Eric Haseltine Ph.D. on October 06, 2017 in Long Fuse, Big Bang

New research hints at how to avoid Mr. Wrong, while zeroing in on Mr. Right.

Surprising New Discoveries About Our Sense of Smell

By Chris Gilbert, M.D., Ph.D. on October 02, 2017 in Heal the Mind to Heal the Body

New research shows that human smell can detect serious diseases.

Why Smell Makes Us Choose Bad Boys (Sometimes)

By Donna Barstow on September 30, 2017 in Ink Blots Cartoons

Need some pointers? Dogs can help. But find out about the hidden organ humans have ourselves to help us select the right partner!

Do Adult Dogs Still Recognize Their Mothers?

By Stanley Coren PhD., DSc, FRSC on August 22, 2017 in Canine Corner

Does the emotional link between a canine mother and her puppies carry over into their adulthood?

Dogs: When They Smell Their Pee They Know It's "Me"

By Marc Bekoff Ph.D. on August 18, 2017 in Animal Emotions

A novel study about self-recognition by dog researcher Alexandra Horowitz taps into what's happening in a dog's brain when their nose goes to work sniffing different odors.

NorCalGSPrescue photo-Creative Commons License

What Makes a Dog Notice a Person

By Stanley Coren PhD., DSc, FRSC on August 08, 2017 in Canine Corner

Is it the sight of you, the sounds you make, or your scent that is most likely to make a dog aware that you are nearby?

Bathroom Reading

By David A. Rosenbaum Ph.D. on July 04, 2017 in Perception and Performance

Why don’t your own poops smell?

Like Us, They Kill and Consume. But Could They Save Us?

By Gayil Nalls Ph.D. on June 29, 2017 in Sensoria

Like humans, ants are eusocial and chemical communicators. However, we are just discovering their unique abilities that have cared for the planet for millennia.

If for Just One Day We Could Smell as a Dog Does

By Vint Virga DVM, DACVB on June 28, 2017 in The Soul of All Living Creatures

Imagine, for a moment, walking into a large gathering and instantly, with just a sniff or two, knowing intimately more about the people around you.

Unimagined Sensitivities, Part 8

By Michael Jawer on June 27, 2017 in Feeling Too Much

Beyond the five senses we humans know, some of the sensory capacities more prominent in other creatures may be intimately connected with health, danger, and emotion generally.

How Our Bodies Age (Part 3)

By Mark E. Williams, MD on June 15, 2017 in The Art and Science of Aging Well

What changes in our nervous system can we expect as we age? And what are the implications?

Pissing Matches in Dogs: Territorial, Lots of Fun, or Both?

By Marc Bekoff Ph.D. on April 29, 2017 in Animal Emotions

We really don't know what dogs are talking about when they over-mark or counter-mark as it becomes a game of peeing to their heart's content. Surely, they can and do piss us off.

The Hidden Tug of Marketing

By Holly Parker, Ph.D. on April 27, 2017 in Your Future Self

Thanks to diligent research, marketers know how to pull our strings while we don’t have a clue it’s happening.

The Psychology of Queuing

By Adrian Furnham Ph.D. on April 04, 2017 in A Sideways View

Why is waiting in line so miserable?

Why Do Dogs React to Cats?

By Stanley Coren PhD., DSc, FRSC on March 28, 2017 in Canine Corner

Is it the sight of the cat, the sound of a cat, or the smell of a cat that excites dogs the most? The answer might surprise you.

Poetry Lights Up Your Brain Like a Favorite Song, fMRI Shows

By Christopher Bergland on March 12, 2017 in The Athlete's Way

New research on the link between happy or scary musical cues—and the difference between reading poetry or prose—offer new clues about how the brain responds to music and poetry.

Food and Sex

By Michael S. Fenster M.D., FACC, FSCA&I, PEMBA on February 27, 2017 in You Are What You Eat

Food, sex and the pleasure principle

Sensory Marketing; The Smell of Cinnamon That Made Me Buy

By Liraz Margalit Ph.D. on January 20, 2017 in Behind Online Behavior

While we like to think that we know why we make the decisions we make, we are in fact controlled by hidden biological forces more than we would like to admit.

Love at First Sniff?

By Robert Burriss Ph.D. on January 16, 2017 in Attraction, Evolved

Humans are a predominantly visual species, but we also use our noses to sniff out prospective mates.

Do Vegetarians Smell Sexier?

By Hal Herzog Ph.D. on January 09, 2017 in Animals and Us

New studies reveal that diet affects human body odor and even our skin color. But do men who give up meat smell more or less attractive to women?

Acute Stress May Block a Key Anxiety-Relieving Neuropeptide

By Christopher Bergland on January 04, 2017 in The Athlete's Way

What causes stress-induced anxiety and PTSD to spiral out of control? New research suggests the answer may lie in a mysterious self-produced molecule called "neuropeptide Y."

Why Do Dogs Have Tails?

By Stanley Coren PhD., DSc, FRSC on November 24, 2016 in Canine Corner

The dog's tail is not simply a signal flag conveying his mood. It has some other important purposes.

The Smell of a Hallway Taught Me Something Important

By Gretchen Rubin on November 14, 2016 in The Happiness Project

For some reason, this hallway smelled exactly like the hospital where I worked as a candy-striper in high school.

Is There a Physical Basis to the Notion of "Spirit"?

By Liane Gabora Ph.D. on October 26, 2016 in Mindbloggling

The feeling bears leave you with has little to do with how smart they are, or their demeanor. It’s more a sense of the essential life force they emanate from, corny as that sounds.

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